I was going to leave posting this chapter until tomorrow but I've decided to let you have it early :-)
Again, I'm not sure if some of what I have written is entirely medically accurate so you may have to allow for a little artistic license...
Seeing the doctor exit Horatio's room Eric stood up to meet him, "Doctor, how is he?"
"I think it might be a good idea if you sat down Mr Delko"
Eric could hear his heart pounding in his ears; he sat down slowly, expecting the worst. "What's happened?" he asked, bracing himself for the bad news.
"As you know, heroin is a highly addictive drug. In most cases it only takes one hit for the body to become addicted, it seems as though Mr Caine's body is suffering from withdrawal"
"That's crap, doctor!" Frank shouted as he stood with his hands on his hips, "The guy has never touched any drugs in his life. Hell, he doesn't even drink!"
Sensing the fraught emotions in the room the doctor tried to placate them, "That as may be detective, Mr Caine is exhibiting all of the classic signs of heroin withdrawal. As I said, it only takes one hit for the body to become addicted"
"What will happen?" Calleigh asked, voice shaking.
The doctor ran a weary hand across his face, "Right now the only option we have is to give his body what it needs. Heroin is derived from the same opiate as morphine; we'll need to administer it intravenously to counteract the symptoms of withdrawal"
"Won't that make the addiction worse?" Calleigh questioned, already knowing the answer.
"I'm afraid we don't have much of a choice at the moment, he's still far too weak to be able to handle going through withdrawal at this time. His heart is not strong enough to take the stress of going through a detox; if we tried it would in all likelihood cause a massive myocardial infarction"
"How long?" Eric growled, his voice threatening.
"I'm sorry?" the doctor replied, confused.
"How long are you planning to drug him up for?" Eric continued, giving the doctor a fearsome stare.
"For at least the next few days, I'm afraid. We'll be running regular EKG and blood gas tests, when we're happy that Mr Caine's respiratory functions have improved significantly then we can think about weaning him off the morphine" The doctor had planned on leaving it there but felt compelled to be completely honest with the group, they had spent the last several days camping out in the ICU waiting area supporting their ailing colleague. "Now that we have cause for optimism I think I should make you aware of something" he began.
"More bad news? Hell, just spit it out man!" Frank snapped tersely.
"There's a chance that the needle that Mr Caine was injected with has been used by a habitual drug user which as you all know means that there is a possibility that he may have come in to contact with certain diseases such as Hepatitis or HIV" the doctor paused as he heard a soft gasp. "We have sent samples to our lab from blood that we've already drawn from Mr Caine but the test results will not be back for at least another ten days. We have been administering a drug called PEP since he was admitted and we're hoping that the chances of him contracting HIV or Hepatitis will be minimal. I really am sorry that I don't have anything more definitive for you"
The team sat in stunned silence; trying to take in the news they had just been given. Ryan felt his face redden in shame; he knew that this was his fault; if only he'd been more cautious then none of this would have happened. He wrung his hands together in an effort to make them stop shaking, there was no way he could ever put this right again.
"I need some air" Frank declared as he stood up and walked towards the exit, Natalia followed suit, desperate to flee from the raw emotions radiating throughout the room.
Ryan stood, took a deep breath and walked towards Horatio's room, "Eric, I'm going to go and sit with him, ok?" Eric nodded his agreement and sat with his head in his hands.
He reached a shaky hand to the door handle, willing his palms to stop sweating he turned the handle and entered the room. "H?" he said softly, "H, it's Ryan" He got no response from the other man, he sat down in the chair beside the bed and took Horatio's hand, squeezing it lightly. His eyes travelled to the other man's face when he heard a soft groan, "H, can you hear me? It's Ryan?"
"Ryan?" he slurred, his voice barely a whisper. "Raid. You ok?"
"I'm so sorry H, I got hit from behind. I left you without back up, I'm so sorry" Ryan babbled, trying to keep his emotions in check. "This is all my fault H, I'm so sorry" he repeated as he felt a tear run down his face.
"You ok…..Ryan?" Horatio repeated, looking in the younger man's general direction his voice muffled by the oxygen mask strapped to his face.
"My God, after everything that's happened how can he be worried about me? I'm not the one who is lying in a hospital bed!" He thought to himself, amazed that Horatio was thinking of others at a time like this instead of himself. "I'm fine H, just took a knock on the head. It's you we're worried about" Ryan was rewarded with a small smile from Horatio as the older man closed his eyes once more. The tremors seemed to have abated and Horatio appeared to be resting peacefully, Ryan made himself comfortable and settled in for what he knew would be a long night.
Over the next two days the team took it in turns to sit by Horatio's bedside, the constant flow of morphine in his bloodstream kept him drowsy and incoherent at best. As they sat by his bedside his colleagues prayed that his lack of mental faculties was caused by the medication he was being administered and not some kind of permanent brain damage caused by the heroin. The doctor had warned them that there was a possibility of permanent damage to Horatio's brain and central nervous system but until he was physically stronger it would be impossible to tell.
In between shifts at the lab Ryan had spent most of his free time sitting at his boss' bedside, it seemed as though he and Eric had come to some sort of truce although he felt that Eric tolerated his presence more than he welcomed it. For the past 48 hours Horatio had rested peacefully, waking every so often to find a member of his team sitting by his side. Ryan kept up his mantra of "I'm sorry" each time the lieutenant woke up until the other man drifted back to sleep again. Ryan couldn't help the wave of guilt that washed over him, each time he looked into Horatio's eyes and saw the glassy and unfocussed gaze of his mentor he cursed himself for his fallibility. It was late on Wednesday evening when the doctor once more addressed the team, standing in front of them in the ICU waiting area he cleared his throat to gain their attention. "Excuse me, I have some more news on Mr Caine's condition" he began as all eyes in the room focussed on him. "We've been monitoring his heart rate and respirations continuously for the last three days and I'm happy to say that there has been a great deal of improvement in his respiratory functions. From tomorrow onwards we are planning to reduce the level of morphine being administered in order to wean Mr Caine off if it"
"How long will that take, doctor?" Natalia asked, gripping her knees tightly with her hands as she sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair.
"It will be a gradual process over the next two to three days, it's important that we reduce the morphine slowly as we need to limit the amount of stress his heart is under, he's still quite weak at the moment"
"What happens if he starts going through withdrawal again?" Eric questioned, his eyes boring into the doctor.
"If we are happy that he's strong enough we'll allow his body to go through the process of withdrawal as gradually as we can"
"And if he's not?" Frank interrupted.
"Then we'll have to increase the morphine and start over again" the doctor replied, making his excuses and leaving the room.